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Principle (linguistics)
Principles and parameters is a framework within generative linguistics in which the syntax of a natural language is described in accordance with general ''principles'' (i.e. abstract rules or grammars) and specific ''parameters'' (i.e. markers, switches) that for particular languages are either turned ''on'' or ''off''. For example, the position of heads in phrases is determined by a parameter. Whether a language is '' head-initial or head-final'' is regarded as a parameter which is either on or off for particular languages (i.e. English is ''head-initial'', whereas Japanese is ''head-final''). Principles and parameters was largely formulated by the linguists Noam Chomsky and Howard Lasnik. Many linguists have worked within this framework, and for a period of time it was considered the dominant form of mainstream generative linguistics. Principles and parameters as a grammar framework is also known as government and binding theory. That is, the two terms ''principles and param ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generative Linguistics
Generative grammar, or generativism , is a linguistic theory that regards linguistics as the study of a hypothesised innate grammatical structure. It is a biological or biologistic modification of earlier structuralist theories of linguistics, deriving ultimately from glossematics. Generative grammar considers grammar as a system of rules that generates exactly those combinations of words that form grammatical sentences in a given language. It is a system of explicit rules that may apply repeatedly to generate an indefinite number of sentences which can be as long as one wants them to be. The difference from structural and functional models is that the object is base-generated within the verb phrase in generative grammar. This purportedly cognitive structure is thought of as being a part of a universal grammar, a syntactic structure which is caused by a genetic mutation in humans. Generativists have created numerous theories to make the NP VP (NP) analysis work in natural lan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ergative Case Parameter , a verb whose subject when intransitive corresponds to its direct object when transitive
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The term ergative is used in grammar in three different meanings: * Ergative case, the grammatical case of the subject of a transitive verb in an ergative-absolutive language * Ergative–absolutive language, a language in which the subject of an intransitive verb behaves like the object of a transitive verb * Ergative verb In general linguistics, a labile verb (or ergative verb) is a verb that undergoes causative alternation; it can be used both transitively and intransitively, with the requirement that the direct object of its transitive use corresponds to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empty Category Principle
In linguistics, the empty category principle (ECP) was proposed in Noam Chomsky's syntactic framework of government and binding theory. The ECP is supposed to be a universal syntactic constraint that requires certain types of empty categories, namely traces, to be properly governed. ECP is a principle of transformational grammar by which traces must be visible, i.e. they must be identifiable as empty positions in the surface structure, similar to the principle of reconstruction for deletion. Thus an empty category is in a position subcategorized for by a verb. In government and binding theory this is known as ''proper government''. Proper government occurs either if the empty position is governed by a lexical category (especially if it is not a subject) (theta-government) or if it is coindexed with a maximal projection which governs it (antecedent-government). The ECP has been revised many times and is now a central part of government and binding theory. In spite of its name, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subjacency
Subjacency is a general syntactic locality constraint on movement. It specifies restrictions placed on movement and regards it as a strictly local process. This term was first defined by Noam Chomsky in 1973 and constitutes the main concept of the Government and Binding Theory. The revised definition of subjacency from Chomsky (1977) is as follows: "A cyclic rule cannot move a phrase from position Y to position X (or conversely) in … X … …_Y_…_.html"_;"title="…_[β…_Y_…_">…_[β…_Y_…_…_…_X_…,_where_α_and_β_are_cyclic_nodes._Cyclic_nodes_are_S_and_NP",_(where_S=Sentence_(linguistics).html" ;"title="…_Y_…_…_.html" ;"title="…_Y_…_.html" ;"title="… [β… Y … ">… [β… Y … … ">…_Y_…_.html" ;"title="… [β… Y … ">… [β… Y … … … X …, where α and β are cyclic nodes. Cyclic nodes are S and NP", (where S=Sentence (linguistics)">Sentence and NP=Noun Phrase). This principle states that no movement can move an e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Projection Principle
In linguistics, the projection principle is a stipulation proposed by Noam Chomsky as part of the phrase structure component of generative-transformational grammar. The projection principle is used in the derivation of phrases under the auspices of the principles and parameters theory. Details Under the projection principle, the properties of lexical items must be preserved while generating the phrase structure of a sentence. The principle, as formulated by Chomsky in ''Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin and Use'' (1986), states that "lexical structure must be represented categorically at every syntactic level" (Chomsky 1986: 84). Chomsky further defined the projection principle as "representations at each level of syntax(MF, D, S) are projected from the lexicon in that they observe the subcategorisation properties of lexical items." This refers to the fact that every individual piece of a syntactic structure is part of a particular category (i.e. “John” is a member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trace Erasure Principle
{{no footnotes, date=November 2011 The Trace Erasure Principle is a stipulation proposed by Noam Chomsky as part of the Generative-Transformational Grammar. Under the Trace Erasure Principle, traces of a noun phrase In linguistics, a noun phrase, or nominal (phrase), is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrases are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most frequently oc ... (NP) can be replaced only by a designated morpheme and not by an arbitrary NP. The following is an example of this Principle: :''A person is here, waiting for you.'' can be transformed into: :''There is a person here, waiting for you.'' and this Principle remains fulfilled. Both sentences hold the same meaning, because we have designated ''There'' to replace ''a person'' —both terms are mutually linked—, and the meaning remains. A case where this principle is not fulfilled can be the following: :''Maria loves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Structure Preservation Principle
{{no footnotes, date=November 2011 The Structure Preservation Principle is a generalization going back to Joseph Emonds' 1970 MIT dissertation and widely adopted afterwards. It claims, in a nutshell, that the result of syntactic transformation must be structurally identical to a structure that can be generated without transformations. For example, the by then popular passive transformation derives :''Prince Jamal was strangled by Fabio.'' from the active :''Fabio strangled Prince Jamal.'' But the syntactic structure of the passive sentence, Subj Aux V-Particple Prep NP is by and large the same as that found in an active sentence like :''Prince Jamal has dined at Fabio's.'' This did not follow from general properties of syntactic transformations at the time. In principle, these could have generated e.g. passive sentences that look nothing like any active sentence (e.g. ''was by Fabio strangled Prince Jamal''). The Structure Preservation Principle thus restricted the generative po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turn Constructional Units
A turn construction unit (TCU) is the fundamental segment of speech in a conversation, as analysed in conversation analysis. The idea was introduced in "A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation" by Harvey Sacks, Emanuel Schegloff, and Gail Jefferson in 1974. It describes pieces of conversation which may comprise an entire speaking turn by a speaker. The model is designed to explain that when people talk in conversation, they do not always talk all at the same time, but generally, one person speaks at a time, and then another person can follow. Such a contribution to a conversation by one speaker is then a ''turn''. A turn is created through certain forms or units that listeners can recognize and count on, called ''turn construction units'' (TCUs), and speakers and listeners will know that such forms can be a word or a clause, and use that knowledge to predict when a speaker is finished so that others can speak, to avoid or minimize both overlap an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Periodic Table
The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the (chemical) elements, is a rows and columns arrangement of the chemical elements. It is widely used in chemistry, physics, and other sciences, and is generally seen as an icon of chemistry. It is a graphic formulation of the periodic law, which states that the properties of the chemical elements exhibit an approximate periodic dependence on their atomic numbers. The table is divided into four roughly rectangular areas called blocks. The rows of the table are called periods, and the columns are called groups. Elements from the same group of the periodic table show similar chemical characteristics. Trends run through the periodic table, with nonmetallic character (keeping their own electrons) increasing from left to right across a period, and from down to up across a group, and metallic character (surrendering electrons to other atoms) increasing in the opposite direction. The underlying reason for these trends is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimalist Program
In linguistics, the minimalist program is a major line of inquiry that has been developing inside generative grammar since the early 1990s, starting with a 1993 paper by Noam Chomsky. Following Imre Lakatos's distinction, Chomsky presents minimalism as a program, understood as a mode of inquiry that provides a conceptual framework which guides the development of linguistic theory. As such, it is characterized by a broad and diverse range of research directions. For Chomsky, there are two basic minimalist questions — What is language? and Why does it have the properties it has? — but the answers to these two questions can be framed in any theory.Boeckx, Cedric ''Linguistic Minimalism. Origins, Concepts, Methods and Aims'', pp. 84 and 115. Conceptual framework Goals and assumptions Minimalism is an approach developed with the goal of understanding the nature of language. It models a speaker's knowledge of language as a computational system with one basic operation, namel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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